Linked server error - SQL 2005 to MAS 90 via ODBC

I am using a system dns odbc connection to create a linked server to a MAS90 system.
The odbc driver is the MAS 90 32-Bit ODBC Driver.
The linked server is named MASDPK.

I have a number of queries and stored procedures.

It is a roll of the dice for it to work. Often, I can hit the linked server 4 or 5 times in a row with success, and then I will receive this message.
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Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Procedure UpdateRecipeDescription, Line 10
The OLE DB provider "MSDASQL" for linked server "MASDPK" reported an error. The provider reported an unexpected catastrophic failure.
Msg 7303, Level 16, State 1, Procedure UpdateRecipeDescription, Line 10
Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "MSDASQL" for linked server "MASDPK".
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The way I can get around it is to close SQL 2005, use net start and stop for the MSSQLSERVER and restart SQL. Sometimes, if I wait awhile, it will work again on its own.

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